Reappointment of Chair and members of the Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee

Date published: 26 October 2022

The Department of Finance has announced the following reappointments to the Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee (NIBRAC):

NIBRAC - Chair and members reappointed

The Department of Finance has announced the following reappointments to the Northern Ireland Building Regulations Advisory Committee (NIBRAC):

  • Mabel Higgins - Chair
  • Ross Reid - Member (Architecture area of expertise)
  • David Algie - Member (Building Services, Engineering & Energy area of expertise)

The Chair’s reappointment will run until 14 April 2025. Mabel was first appointed to NIBRAC on 15 April 2019. 

The members’ reappointments will run until 29 September 2025. Ross and David were first appointed to NIBRAC on 30 September 2019.

Notes to editors: 

  1. NIBRAC is a statutory body set up under Article 4 of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 1979, to advise the Department on the amendment of Building Regulations and on other associated matters referred to it. 
  2. The Building Regulations Advisory Committee consists of a Chair and eight members, with each member appointed to represent a specific area of expertise. There are currently two vacancies on the Committee and a future recruitment competition is planned to fill these vacancies. Further information about NIBRAC and current members can be accessed here.
  3. The Chair and members of NIBRAC do not receive remuneration however they are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred during their work for the Committee.
  4. The reappointment of the Chair was made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland’s Code of Practice. 
  5. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. The Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published and the re-appointees have confirmed that they have undertaken no political activity during the past five years.
  6. Mabel Higgins is a Fire Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in the Construction Industry, working in both the public and private sector. She has held several senior roles within Building Control Northern Ireland. She holds a BSc in Quantity Surveying and MSc in Fire Engineering from the University of Ulster. She is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Building and a registered fire risk assessor with the Institute of Fire Engineers.  Mabel is the founder of MH Fire Safety and an Associate of The Fire Surgery, London. Prior to this Mabel held the position of Chair of the Northern Ireland Fire Safety Panel.  This is Mabel’s second term as Chair of NIBRAC and she holds no other public appointments.
  7. David Algie represents the Building Services, Engineering and Energy area of expertise on NIBRAC.  He is an experienced building services engineer with over 18 years in the construction industry. In his career to date David’s engineering design has covered a diverse geography including the UK, Europe, Middle East and Australasia. His experience covers both public and private sectors which includes commercial, healthcare, education and residential buildings. He holds a BEng (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Queens University Belfast. David is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (FCIBSE), the Institution of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (FIHEEM) and has recently completed a master’s programme with the institute for sustainability leadership at Cambridge University. David was recently appointed Arup’s Belfast office leader along with leading the Property, Science, Industry, Technology and Social Infrastructure team in Northern Ireland. This is David’s second term as member of NIBRAC and he holds no other public appointments.
  8. Ross Reid represents the Architecture area of expertise on NIBRAC. He holds a BSc (Architecture), BArch and PG Cert awarded by Queen’s University Belfast, is currently on the Architect’s Register and is Chartered Membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He has undertaken ongoing training including CDM, BIM, Project Management, Adjudication, NEC, Law and Contract Management and is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management. Ross Reid is an Architect with over 20 years experience in the Construction industry. This experience has largely been in private architectural practice and more recently in the public and private sectors. In private practice Ross worked on numerous projects which were nominated for awards and his public sector experience includes five years working for a NI council at a senior level within Building Control with additional duties including Building Energy Performance and Capital projects. Ross is currently a Director with Currie & Brown leading the Project Management team delivering services for both the private and public sector client.  This is Ross’s second term as a member of NIBRAC and he holds no other public appointments.
  9. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Department of Finance Press Office at dof.pressoffice@finance-ni.gov.uk
  10. Follow us on Twitter @dptfinance(external link opens in a new window / tab).
  11. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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